Self-harm or self-injury refers to hurting oneself on purpose, often without a suicidal intention or without fully understanding why. Self-injury is a mysterious behavior that often involves cutting or burning. It can happen frequently or erratically and is difficult for parents or loved ones to identify. According to a recent CDC study, 30% of U.S. teen girls have attempted self-harm at least once. While self-harm is more prevalent in girls, it affects boys as well – about 10% of boys engaged in some form of self-inflicted injury.
These numbers are surprising to many adults, particularly because self-harm can so often go undetected. It is difficult to believe that a student, niece, neighbor, co-worker, or daughter might be secretly causing themselves physical pain. Part of the disconnect is generational - self-harm, notably cutting, has seen an intense spike in the past 20 years. Between 2001 and 2015, self-harm rates in young girls increased by 166%. This concerning increase reveals a fundamental shift in the mental health challenges young people face, and how they learn to cope.
Why Teens Engage in Self-Harming Behavior
Self-harming behavior may offer a troubled teen a momentary sense of physical relief, or a sharp return to physical awareness when their minds go to dark places. Inflicting a cut or burn acts as an outlet for anger, frustration, and other feelings that are difficult to articulate.
Certain factors put teens at an increased risk for self-harm. For all of the parents who are wondering why on earth their child would resort to a lighter or a match to express their emotions, it is important to keep in mind that self-harm is a learned behavior. Teens who witness their friends or others engage in a form of self-harm are far more likely to experiment and test their own limits. Additional factors that stem from negative life experiences, trauma, or neglect put teens at risk. Where there are issues that are difficult to communicate about, from sexual trauma to physical abuse, parental neglect to social isolation, it can be tempting for teens to drift further into secrecy and engage in damaging habits.
Self-injury is not a mental health disorder in its own right; however, it is linked to a variety of mental health issues. People who injure themselves are more likely to struggle with social skills, problem-solving, and have low self-esteem. Borderline personality disorder, depression, eating disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder are all known to put people at an increased risk for self-injury. Substance abuse can often make a person’s impulse to harm themselves worse – when under the influence of drugs or alcohol, a person is more likely to harm themselves.
How To Identify A Self-Harming Teen
There is no simple formula that motivates someone to injure their own body. Every teen’s story is different, and the pain they are seeking to release is unique to them. For this reason, and because of the exponential rise in self-harm among young teens, it is important for parents, relatives, educators, and other adults in a teen’s life to be conscientious about the risk factors that contribute to self-injury, and to keep an eye out for warning signs. Some possible indications that a teen is self-harming include:
- Scars – particularly in clusters or patterns
- Fresh cuts, bite marks, or burns
- Lying about accidental injuries
- A tendency to wear baggy, long clothing – even in hot weather
- Behavioral instability or secrecy
- Excessive scratching or picking at scabs
- Keeping or seeking out sharp objects
- Bloodstains on clothing, bedding, or towels
While cuts and burns are among the most common forms of self-harm, the behavior can also show up as scratching, carving words into one’s skin, hitting oneself, inserting objects under the skin, or using sharp objects to pierce one’s skin. Self-injury implements could be obvious – knives, lighters, matches, and cigarettes are frequently associated with self-harm. Cutting and piercing with sewing needles, shaving razors, safety pins, thumbtacks, and staples are less obvious or noticeable. Keep in mind that while most self-harming people will inflict wounds on their arms, legs, and torso, any part of the body might be used. For some people, self-harming is something they try a few times, perhaps experimenting with different forms of injury. For others, it is a long-term behavior with more profound implications.
Preventing and Treating Self-Harming Behavior
Self-harm might bring a momentary sense of calm or release – however, it is often a cause of long-term shame, guilt, and deepened isolation. Most people who self-harm are not attempting suicide. In some cases, though, more aggressive methods can lead to increasingly severe complications and might increase a person’s risk for suicide.
If you suspect that your child or a young person you know might be harming themselves, seek professional help. A pediatrician, licensed therapist, or psychologist can offer a mental health evaluation to help you and your teen understand the underlying causes for self-harming behaviors. Families or caregivers, in particular, should take steps to understand what self-harm is, why teens do it, and how to prevent further issues in the future. Responding with anger or judgment will only make things worse. Parents should focus on building trust and creating space for difficult, healthy conversations that can function as a positive emotional outlet and equip teens with sustainable coping skills.
Preventing self-harm is all about navigating risk factors with an open mind and a positive attitude. Teens who are at risk for cutting or other forms of self-harm lack confidence, social support, and the outlets they need to release their overwhelming feelings.
Children and teens who need a community of support can lean on the experts at Maryvale. Our approach to mental health care factors in a person’s entire experience – including their social environment, their family, their education, and their capacity to live a healthy life. To learn more about how Maryvale supports children and their families through a variety of mental health challenges, please visit our website.
